BEHIND THE SCENES: Cranley, Qualls battle for mayorship

Jan. 18, 2013

One of these two could become the city's first new mayor in eight years. / Enquirer file photos

Written by

Jane Prendergast

You might not realize it yet, but the race to be Cincinnati’s next mayor is definitely on.

No one has actually filed to run – candidates can wait until June to do that. But heavy hitters John Cranley and Roxanne Qualls are out there asking for money and reconnecting with the volunteers who’ve supported them in their many previous campaigns.

They’re lining up endorsements. Funk master Bootsy Collins dresses up Cranley’s team, as he has done before. On Qualls’ side: Marian Spencer, the city’s first African-American female council member and the woman who led the desegregation of Coney Island in the 1950s.

At the same time, the candidates are putting together their platforms, and posting position papers on their blogs and websites.

All this work 10 months before the election comes with good reason. The winner becomes the first new mayor in eight years and, with the maximum two consecutive terms, could set the agenda of the city – and arguably the region – until 2020.

“These campaigns are cranking,” said Pete Witte, a longtime West Side political activist who supports Cranley, who grew up in West Price Hill. “It’s crazy. I mean, it’s meetings and consultants and community councils. It’s every night. I couldn’t do it.”

Qualls officially announced her candidacy last month, but she confirmed in August she would run. Cranley announced on his website in November and still plans an official kickoff.

Cranley is focusing on two things: the $128 million streetcar project and the plan to lease out most of the city’s parking system – both terrible ideas, he said.

“This is really not personal,” Cranley said. “I like her. I respect her public service. We just have a different agenda for the city’s future.”

He would rather use the streetcar money to finish Smale Riverfront Park, repave more streets every year and bring broadband and Wi-Fi to all neighborhood business districts. He’s also working on a jobs proposal that would have the city hire long-term unemployed people, pay them with federal money redirected from other, as yet unnamed things and send them for training at Cincinnati Works, a nonprofit agency that helps people learn job skills.

Difference in style at this early stage

Where Cranley’s intensity is already evident, Qualls is more low-key.

“That’s just their personalities,” said Kevin Flynn, chairman of the Charter Committee, which supports Qualls.

But just because you don’t see her yet at community councils in Bond Hill and Roselawn, where Cranley went last week, doesn’t mean the wheels aren’t in motion. Supporters say Qualls, considered the frontrunner by many, can run almost as if she’s an incumbent because she has been mayor before (1993-99, when the top vote-getter became mayor) and has always enjoyed a lot of support, finishing first in every council race since she returned in 2007.

She intends to raise $500,000. Cranley’s not making his goal public, but has told friends he’s hoping for $1 million. Campaign finance reports are due Jan. 31. People watching the race are eager to see the numbers, saying a big total for Cranley could go a long way toward eroding Qualls’ frontrunner image.

“People have trusted her for years,” said David Pepper, former Democratic councilman and Hamilton County commissioner who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2005, the year Mark Mallory first won. Surprisingly, he said he had not yet been hit up for money by either candidate. He said he knows and respects them both and that it’s too soon to say whom he’ll support.

The race takes on an importance beyond the city’s boundaries. People who live elsewhere but work in the city support the city’s operations with their 2.1 percent earnings tax, the largest chunk of the operating budget.

The region’s two biggest employment centers – Downtown and Uptown, the area around the University of Cincinnati and hospitals – sit in the city. The city’s reputation extends out, too, as no matter where in the region people live, they generally say Cincinnati.

More candidates joining the race?

It’s expected there will be at least one other candidate, which would trigger a September primary. Perennial candidate Jim Berns, a Libertarian, already announced he’ll run. He ran unsuccessfully against U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot last year and in 2010.

A primary would change the race a bit, forcing the candidates to spend some of their money to make sure they make it to the November election. The question will be how much work they have to do to accomplish that, which will depend on the legitimacy of the additional candidates.

Others have taken out petitions, too: Sandra Queen Noble, who finished last in the 22-person council race in 2011; Tom Chandler, who ran for mayor as a write-in in 2009; and Stacy Ann Smith.

Tim Burke, Hamilton County Democratic Party chairman, feels there might be another formidable name or two to join the race. He doesn’t know of any yet, but can’t imagine there won’t be an African-American (in a city with a population that’s 50 percent black) or a Republican.

Councilmen Charlie Winburn, a Republican, and Christopher Smitherman, an independent, say they’re out. Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann, a Republican, has said he’s considering a run. Winburn wants to focus on writing his self-help book. Smitherman says he’ll be mayor someday, just not now while his five children are still young.

The Democratic party won’t endorse, just as it didn’t when Pepper and Mallory, also both Democrats, ran.

“This is going to be hotly contested,” Burke said. “Both John and Roxanne are very strong personalities. John can be very aggressive in his speech at times. ... He has taken on uphill struggles before (running against Chabot in 2006 and losing, which Qualls also did in 1998). He’s one of these people who will be all-in on this race.”

Qualls held her campaign kickoff at Core Clay in Walnut Hills, a clay workshop that’s a bright spot on otherwise distressed Gilbert Avenue. The owner, Laura Davis, credits Qualls for helping the neighborhood with things like turning William Howard Taft Road and McMillan Avenue into two-way streets again.

The location emphasized Qualls’ work for neighborhoods, a passion of hers for years. She’s stressing that she’ll continue the progress the city has made in recent years, evidenced by The Banks, the casino and the renovation of Washington Park, among others. She wants to spread the good ideas, development and momentum seen Downtown and in Over-the-Rhine to all 52 neighborhoods.

“It’s going to be a very active campaign,” she said this week. “It already is.”

Pepper is looking forward to a meaty campaign. “They’re both very smart and very policy-minded,” he said. “This is a chance to go out and have real public discussions on the future of the city. A good campaign, and we’ll be the better for it.”

In Qualls' corner

• Mark Mallory, current mayor • Bobbie Sterne, the city’s second female mayor, 1975-76 and 1978-79 • Sister Ann Rene McConn, longtime social activist, now president of the Westwood Community Urban Redevelopment Corp., and Qualls’ high school debate coach • Marian Spencer, former vice mayor, first African-American woman elected to council. Led NAACP suit in 1952 that forced the desegration of Coney Island. Follow Qualls on Twitter @RoxanneQualls, on Facebook and at roxannequalls.com.